Man Accused of Kidnapping Teenager and Raping Her for Months Had Been Arrested 52 Times Previously

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A man who was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a teenager and repeatedly raping her in his basement had been previously arrested 52 times, according to Illinois police.

Cook County prosecutors said 48-year-old Derek Swift drove up to the 15-year-old girl on Dec. 6 while she was walking to her home in Chicago.

The girl said that he kept asking her if she wanted a ride until she relented and got into his car. Once inside the car, she was allegedly pressured to drink alcohol and take drugs until she agreed and then went unconscious.

She said that she awoke naked in the man’s basement apartment and was kept against her will for nearly five months while she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Swift. She hit her 16th birthday while being allegedly held captive.

The victim said she was left alone by her captor for days at a time and although he left a phone with her, she said he threatened to kill her if she tried to leave and also to kill anyone she tried to call with the phone. (Read more from “Man Accused of Kidnapping Teenager and Raping Her for Months Had Been Arrested 52 Times Previously” HERE)

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Illegals Will Now Be Eligible for Health Care Coverage Under New Biden Rule

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More than 100,000 young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will soon become eligible to receive federal health care coverage for the first time since DACA was implemented over a decade ago.

The Biden administration will announce a new federal rule Friday allowing DACA recipients to enroll in a qualified health plan through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace or become eligible for coverage through a basic health program.

An estimated 580,000 young adults who lack legal immigration status and have lived in the U.S. since they were children are currently working or studying without fear of deportation under DACA. An overwhelming majority of DACA recipients were born in Mexico and other Latin American countries. . .

By implementing a federal rule expanding the definition of “lawful presence” to include DACA recipients, they are “no longer excluded from receiving coverage from a quality health plan and financial assistance as well,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters in a press call Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that over 100,000 young immigrants who lack health insurance will now have a shot at accessing affordable health care. (Read more from “Illegals Will Now Be Eligible for Health Care Coverage Under New Biden Rule” HERE)

Alvin Bragg’s Team Finally Produced Docs at Center of Case Against Trump — There Was Just One Catch

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Prosecutors finally displayed the documents at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, but have yet to establish a direct link to demonstrate Trump’s culpability.

Until Monday, prosecutors had been focused on setting up other pieces of their case: the context for the $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about claims of a sexual encounter and the broader “conspiracy” to influence the 2016 election they allege Trump was involved in. Monday’s witnesses — former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney and Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff — offered starkly different testimony than earlier witnesses like David Pecker and Keith Davidson, providing no salacious celebrity stories and an almost exclusive focus on accounting.

Through their testimony, prosecutors introduced the invoices, ledger entries and checks the 34-felony count indictment against Trump claims he falsified, allegedly to reimburse his former attorney Michael Cohen for the Daniels payment.

Bragg was only able to bring the core charges for falsifying business records, which had passed the statute of limitations, by charging them as felonies and alleging they were done to conceal or commit another crime, which is why much of the prosecution’s case has focused on highlighting Trump’s involvement in the alleged “conspiracy.”

During cross examination with McConney and Tarasoff, Trump’s defense sought to cast doubt on the president’s personal responsibility by raising questions about his direct involvement in repaying Cohen. (Read more from “Alvin Bragg’s Team Finally Produced Docs at Center of Case Against Trump — There Was Just One Catch” HERE)

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Snack Recall: Products Pulled Due to Potentially Fatal Contamination

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Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Sales LLC has issued a recall for two Planters products produced at one of its facilities and distributed to select states in the southeast U.S. due to concerns over potential listeria contamination. The affected products, Honey Roasted Peanuts and Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts, were distributed to Publix and Dollar Tree warehouses across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The discovery of listeria monocytogenes in the packaged contents prompted the voluntary recall. Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause severe infections, particularly in vulnerable populations such as young children, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms of listeria infection may include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In pregnant women, listeria infections can lead to miscarriages or stillbirths.

The recall specifically targets 4-ounce packages of Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts and 8.75-ounce cans of Planters Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts. Consumers are advised to check the “Best if Used By Date” and UPC code on the packaging to identify the affected products. The UPC code for Honey Roasted Peanuts is 2900002097 with a best-by date of April 11, 2025, while Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts bear the UPC code 2900001621 and a best-by date of April 5, 2026.

Hormel assures consumers that these are the only products affected by the recall and that no illnesses have been reported thus far.

Retailers have been notified, and consumers in possession of the recalled products are urged not to consume them. Instead, they should either discard the items or return them to the store of purchase for a replacement or full refund.

Nathan Wade Makes Absurd Claim About the Moment He and Fani Willis Ended Their Love Affair

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Former Donald Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade made an absurd claim that he and Fani Willis ended their affair the “moment” they realized they were in love with each other — a statement completely at odds with his ex-lover’s version of events.

Speaking to ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Wade claimed he developed feelings for the Fulton County district attorney, who appointed him as special prosecutor to the election fraud case in 2021 “over time.”

“You don’t plan to fall in love,” he told the show, in his first interview since he was made to resign from the case in March.

“You don’t plan to have some relationship in the workplace. You don’t set out to do that. Those things develop organically. They develop over time.

“The minute we had that sobering moment, we discontinued it,” he claimed. (Read more from “Nathan Wade Makes Absurd Claim About the Moment He and Fani Willis Ended Their Love Affair” HERE)

Trump: Arrest Jack Smith After Special Counsel Admits Lying to Court

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President Trump this weekend called for Jack Smith to be arrested after the Special Counsel admitted in a court filing that he lied to the court about the classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. . .

Jack Smith admitted he lied to the Court about the classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago in a motion filed late Friday night.

Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday evening responded to Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta’s motion to extend a deadline for disclosures in the classified documents case.

Recall that Walt Nauta, a former White House employee and Navy veteran who worked valet for Trump and served as a personal staffer at Mar-a-Lago was indicted along with Trump last year.

In a motion filed late Friday, Jack Smith admitted the FBI messed with the boxes containing “classified” documents they seized from Trump and can’t be sure the order or the placement of the documents. (Read more from “Trump: Arrest Jack Smith After Special Counsel Admits Lying to Court” HERE)

Biden’s Advisers Push to Doing Something We All Knew Was Coming

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This change to the Biden 2024 playbook was predictable, given the president’s penchant for being a gaffe machine. His staff aims to shorten his speeches, stressing quality over quantity. The president has had Ron Burgundy-like blunders with the teleprompter in recent weeks. With the public campaign schedule about to get busier, there’s no doubt Biden would have devolved into a more incoherent mess than he already is.

The man can’t hack it, and the irony is that we had a special counsel, Robert Hur, who noted just that when he investigated the president over his classified documents fiasco. We had days of Biden officials and liberal media members touting the president’s cognitive abilities. Now, we learn they’re shortening his speeches as a guardrail against senior moments (via NBC News):

As President Joe Biden ramps up his re-election effort, his campaign is also scaling back how much he says on the trail, part of a larger new strategy to hone a sharper message he’ll take into the general election, according to Biden aides.

The less-is-more approach aims for quality over quantity when it comes to the president’s public appearances, aides said.

(Read more from “Biden’s Advisers Push to Doing Something We All Knew Was Coming” HERE)

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The IRS Says Audits Are About to Surge — Here’s Who’s Most at Risk

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The Internal Revenue Service said it plans to sharply increase audit rates for big corporations, partnerships and multimillionaires over the next three years after a massive boost in funding by the Biden administration.

The IRS said in a news release Thursday that it’s aiming to nearly triple its audit rate, to 22.6%, on corporations with upwards of $250 million worth of assets in the 2026 tax year. . .

For complex partnerships with assets topping $10 million, the IRS said it intends to increase audit rates nearly 10-fold, to 1% in tax year 2026 — up from 0.1% in 2019.

The IRS also said it is targeting a 50% increase in audit rates for individuals with a total positive annual income exceeding $10 million. . .

At the same time, the IRS assured that it would not increase audit rates on individuals and small businesses earning under $400,000, in keeping with President Biden’s pledge not to increase taxes on that population. (Read more from “The IRS Says Audits Are About to Surge — Here’s Who’s Most at Risk” HERE)

Archaeologists: Ancient Wall in Jerusalem Supports Biblical Account

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In a groundbreaking revelation, a team of archaeologists has uncovered evidence suggesting that a stretch of wall in ancient Jerusalem, previously attributed to King Hezekiah, was actually built by his great-grandfather, King Uzziah. This discovery, made after nearly a decade of research, challenges long-held beliefs and provides further support for the historical accuracy of the Bible.

The wall, located in the City of David, the historic core of Jerusalem according to biblical accounts, has been a subject of scholarly debate for years. While it was commonly thought to have been constructed by King Hezekiah to fortify the city against Assyrian invaders, new findings indicate that it dates back to the era of King Uzziah, who ruled during the eighth century BC.

Joe Uziel of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) explained, “For decades, it was assumed that this wall was built by Hezekiah, King of Judah. But it is now becoming clear that it dates back to the days of King Uzziah, as hinted at in the Bible.”

The study, conducted in collaboration with Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science, employed carbon-14 dating to determine the age of the ancient wall. This technique, which measures the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon, provided researchers with unprecedented accuracy in dating the structure.

Elisabetta Boaretto of the Weizmann Institute highlighted the significance of this advancement, stating, “With the work we’ve done in the City of David, we succeeded to reach a resolution less than 10 years, which is really something very very new and dramatic.”

By analyzing organic artifacts found at excavation sites within the City of David, including grape seeds, date pits, and bat skeletons, researchers were able to ascertain the true age of the wall. The precision of the carbon-14 dating method not only confirmed the wall’s origins but also shed light on the expansion of the ancient city.

Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University noted that the study’s findings have pushed back the westward expansion of Jerusalem by five generations, further enriching our understanding of the city’s historical development.

Trump to Make Highly Unusual Campaign Stop to Court Non-Republican Voters

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Former President Donald Trump is set to make a highly unusual campaign stop and address the Libertarian Party at their national convention, according to a press release.

The Libertarian Party announced Wednesday that Trump will join the convention lineup, adding that it is the first time that a former president would be giving an address to its party “members, candidates, and executive committee.” Attendees who register to attend the convention will be able to cast their vote to decide which topics the former president will address, according to the press release.

Brian McWilliams, the communications director for the Libertarian Party, told the Daily Caller that Trump is the first major party presidential candidate to address the Libertarian Party’s convention.

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, confirmed the appearance to the Daily Caller.

“Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our Country, and I am honored to join them in Washington, DC, later this month. We must all work together to help advance freedom and liberty for every American, and a second Trump Administration will achieve that goal. I look forward to speaking at the Libertarian Event, which will be attended by many of my great friends. We all have to remember that our goal is to defeat the Worst President in the History of the United States, BY FAR, Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump said in a press release. (Read more from “Trump to Make Highly Unusual Campaign Stop to Court Non-Republican Voters” HERE)

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